Amten gave twelve portions to his other children and fifty to
his mother Nibsonit, by means of which she lived comfortably in her old
age, and left an annuity for maintaining worship at her tomb. He built
upon the remainder of the land a magnificent villa, of which he has
considerately left us the description. The boundary wall formed a square
of 350 feet on each face, and consequently contained a superficies of
122,500 square feet. The well-built dwelling-house, completely furnished
with all the necessities of life, was surrounded by ornamental and
fruit-bearing trees,--the common palm, the nebbek, fig trees, and
acacias; several ponds, neatly bordered with greenery, afforded a
habitat for aquatic birds; trellised vines, according to custom, ran in
front of the house, and two plots of ground, planted with vines in full
bearing, amply supplied the owner with wine every year.

[Illustration: 075.jpg PLAN OF THE VILLA OF A GREAT EGYPTIAN NOBLE]

This plan is taken from a Theban tomb of the XVIIIth
dynasty; but it corresponds exactly with the description
which Amten has left us of his villa.

It was there, doubtless, that Amten ended his days in peace and quietude
of mind. The tableland whereon the Sphinx has watched for so many
centuries was then crowned by no pyramids, but mastabas of fine white
stone rose here and there from out of the sand: that in which the mummy
of Amten was to be enclosed was situated not far from the modern village
of Abusir, on the confines of the nome of the Haunch, and almost in
sight of the mansion in which his declining years were spent.*

* The site of Amten's manorial mansion is nowhere mentioned
in the inscriptions; but the custom of the Egyptians to
construct their tombs as near as possible to the places
where they resided, leads me to consider it as almost
certain that we ought to look for its site in the Memphite
plain, in the vicinity of the town of Abusir, but in a
northern direction, so as to keep within the territory of
the Letopolite nome, where Amten governed in the name of the
king.

The number of persons of obscure origin, who in this manner had risen in
a few years to the highest honours, and died governors of provinces or
ministers of Pharaoh, must have been considerable. Their descendants
followed in their fathers' footsteps, until the day came when royal
favour or an advantageous marriage secured them the posse